nasty ned and the american roots night at the rail in bound brook

american roots

http://american-roots.blogspot.com/

as you know i also photograph local acts american roots is a jam at the rail in bound brook hosted by the great bluesman nasty ned

here is a review by him of our first thursday jam

Thanks to everyone for making our first American Roots open mic a success. Someone kidded, that I just wanted to throw a party and not have to mess up my own house."Well it did feel like my own party - and thank you all for coming. If you ask Nick, the manager, he'll tell you The Rail is my house, and he wants you to know it is your house, too. There was a very cool vibe in the room.With lots of passionate players and plenty of real music enthusiasts together in one place celebrating a music form that breathes life into our culture and the bedrock on which modern music stands - American roots open mic proved to be a great place for a music fan to come and get-up close to the music and for musicians, an intimate venue with a very enthusiastic audience.Bassboards Blues BandMany thanks go to last night's guest host band, Bassboards Blues Band, who proved not only to be dedicated and talented musicians with a fantastic young singer named Kate Weber, who goes convincingly from Billie Holiday to Janis Joplin to a piano accompanied 30's torch song - BBB showed themselves to be good people, both gracious and generous who stepped forward for the cause.There was a very entertaining performance by Tom Fuller and Kate Weber. The guitar mastery of regional W.C. Handy Award winner Johnny Charles who I joined on Albert Collins' "Black Cat Bone" and Sonny Boy Williamson's "Pontiac Blues". It was my pleasure to perform with Michael Krizan, Jersey's King of the Delta Blues gut-bucket-slide guitar and with Noo Dog Gene Downin on bass, Glen Kubrak on drums, Doctor Greg from Bassboards on keys, we knocked out a couple of Muddy Waters and Paul Butterfield songsBrad Crowell put in a solid performance with "Crossroards" and "One Way Out" as some nice things happened on stage with Ed Z and Bill and Glenn from White Trash Hurricanes and Jimmy from Bassboards blowing harp. Later, a solo performance from Tom Fuller became a duo as I joined him on a Jimmy Reed number and an acoustic guitar/harmonica rendition of Free's "All Right Now." Also a young singer/songwriter named Patrick ShaCola, who we all met for the first time last night, performed three introspective and melodic originals.There were a lot of players meeting other players - some for the first time, sharing ideas and some hooking up and playing together - very cool. This American Roots open mic is going to become a scene where you can come to find a new band mate or a new band to join, or where you might happen upon that special player who's the missing piece for a project you're doing. And it's going to become a scene where producers and A&R types hang to scope things out - especially with the caliber of players who are showing up and as the word spreads. Concert Ticket Give-AwaysI gave away two pair of concert tickets to see Joe Satrani at Starland Ballroom compliments of The Rail.How this will work each week is - there is, as you know, No Cover Charge at our open mic, but we encourage a donation of any amount you're comfortable with giving that will go to the guest host band who plays for free and then supplys their equipment for the others. When you make an optional donation you're given a raffle ticket that could win you a pair of concert tickets, or a dinner for two, or other cool gifts later in the night. There where plenty of photo ops for photographers, and thanks to Ed Pampani, our official American Roots photographer, and Eddie Ray from Computown who is building an American Roots gallery online - probably at www.nastyned.com - there are sure to be a lot of great shots chronicling our first night. I'll post them here when they become available. Next week's guest host band is Hunterdon County and Bethlehem-Allentown area blues veteran Duane Chez and friends. Duane will be bringing along some very notable players (some of my favorites) you'll not want to miss. (I'm not sure I can mention names, yet so I'll hold off.)Anyway, enough of my scrawling. In closing, some absolutely exciting things happened last night; one prior to the show and one just after you all left, I'll talk more about it in another post.Thanks again for your support and interest. I look forward to seeing you all again next Thursday at the American Roots open mic party at The Rail.Keepin' it real, Ned